How could Robocop afford that house?

[CorporalCaptain]

The house scene is one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in the film.

I did a rewatch of the (original) film a couple of weeks ago. It still stands up pretty well. In terms of negative production values/how things have changed since then, the thing that jumped out at me the most is how sparsely populated some of the scenes are.

 

[Seven of Five]

I've been watching them this week as well. I remember enjoying the original when I was younger, so I bought the trilogy. It still holds up, but it's a lot more violent that I remember.

Can't remember much about the sequels though.

 

[Oddish]

Possibilities...
1. Murphy or his wife had parents who were wealthy, and bought the house for the family.
2. The house was inherited.
3. Wife was a doctor or something.
4. The house looked bigger than it actually was.
5. The house was in a bad neighborhood.

 

[Tosk]

6. People more often than not own nice residences in movies and TV.

 

[fireproof78]

7. A set piece to contrast Murphy's life before and after.

 

[Oddish]

To change the subject, when Robocop punched out the virtual real estate salesman, did anyone else say: "I'll buy THAT for a dollar!"

 

[fireproof78]

Most irritating line from that movie so...No.

 

[Seven of Five]

Very annoying, though it's a good reflection of evil adverts that have a goal of your attention by stooping to any terrible catchphrase or jingle.

 

[amp]

I don't know about Detroit specifically, but housing wasn't anywhere near as expensive in the 80s compared to today. If Robocop has bought that house in the late 70s/early 80s, the U.S was just coming off a bout of stagflation with interest rates still high and stock prices low. It probably would have been quite affordable on a cop's salary.

EDIT: Fun fact. That home is actually in Dallas. It's not a house but a condo complex with units going for under $200K. Also, the location was just used for the exterior shots. The interior of these units is nowhere near as fancy as the one shown the movie.

 

[Skipper]

Here's the scene.

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My God it's enormous

 

[Nerys Myk]

Looks pretty average sized to me.

 

[Timby]

I just assumed that OCP owned it. Plus Detroit is in such awful shape that it's being slowly bought by OCP and crime is so bad that the most reasonable solution is killer robots patrolling the city, so property values are probably pretty low.

I don't think OCP owned it; it's mentioned several times in the movie that OCP had very just recently entered into a contract to operate the police force for the City. The Murphys could have had family money, but also, Murphy could have just been a genuinely good cop on his way up. There are areas where it's not unusual for a patrol officer to be bringing down six figures after a few years on the job, depending on how effective the union is at negotiations.

I did a rewatch of the (original) film a couple of weeks ago. It still stands up pretty well. In terms of negative production values/how things have changed since then, the thing that jumped out at me the most is how sparsely populated some of the scenes are.

There are some very operatic, almost Greek tragedy, elements to it. When the three cops run in to try to stop Hedgecock from slaughtering Murphy in the parking garage, they each say one line, Hedgecock tells them he has orders to destroy, and they leave the "stage," much as the chorus does in a Greek play.

 

[Skipper]

Didn't they mention he was a quite good cop recently transferred there? Something similar?

 

[Anwar]

Didn't they mention he was a quite good cop recently transferred there? Something similar?

Bob Morton says that they reassigned people they'd identified as potential candidates for the Robocop program into the right places.

It's subtle, but he means he had cops they thought would make good cyborgs put into more crime ridden areas where chances were they'd be killed and usable.

 

[Finn]

I just watched the video posted by AP, as I haven't seen the movie in ages. It doesn't really clearly show the place from outside well, but it looks like a duplex or a townhouse type of condo area, and IIRC it was set in "near future" at the time the movie was released, implying the house we might see as "upscale" might not be so then, like Marty McFly's house in the future.

 

[ED-209]

My God it's enormous

That’s what she said.

Didn't they mention he was a quite good cop recently transferred there? Something similar?

Transferred from a nice precinct, I can’t remember them saying anything about been a good cop.

 

[Skipper]

Transferred from a nice precinct, I can’t remember them saying anything about been a good cop.

Reading Wikipedia right now. According to Robocop 2 (yes, I know...) "Murphy's psychological profile states that he was top of his class at the police academy and possesses a fierce sense of duty."
And this is his police file from the first movie

OD5839484E09

Murphy, Alex J.
548 Primrose Ln,
Detroit, MI
Grade: 1 00 33

DECEASED (despite being revived as RoboCop)

Service: 7 Merit:
Miranda Award
GD Conduct

BRVRY

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Bob Morton says that they reassigned people they'd identified as potential candidates for the Robocop program into the right places.

It's subtle, but he means he had cops they thought would make good cyborgs put into more crime ridden areas where chances were they'd be killed and usable.

If you think about it, Bob Morton is just as responsible as Clarence Boddicker for the death of Alex Murphy.

He might not have been the one to pull the trigger, but by selecting ideal candidates for the Robocop program, Bob Morton positioned Alex Murphy to be in high crime precinct where the fatal attack took place.

That means that there are/were several officers still in precincts transferred there by Bob Morton/OCP who have no idea how close they came to being turned into cyborgs.

And how successful would the Robocop program have been if it were not for Alex Murphy?

We saw at the beginning of Robocop 2, two unsuccessful follow-up attempts, because, according to Dr. Faxx, it was Murphy's strong Catholic faith which prevented him from committing suicide and allowed him to overcome his programming and regain his humanity.

If not for that, another candidate might have gone haywire and eventually killed itself and taken others with it; which means that Dick Jones and the ED-209 program would be patrolling the streets of Detroit.

And how quick was Bob Morton to jump in with the Robocop program once the ED-209 demonstration failed?

Did he have some inside information into the ED-209 program and the possibility of it failing; which is why he maneuvered candidates into high crime areas?

 

[Oddish]

Can't remember much about the sequels though.

No great loss there. Trust me. The 2014 remake might not be as good as the original, but it was decent fare. Robocop 2 and 3 were rotted dumpster residue steaming on a hot sidewalk.

 

[Anwar]

No great loss there. Trust me. The 2014 remake might not be as good as the original, but it was decent fare. Robocop 2 and 3 were rotted dumpster residue steaming on a hot sidewalk.

Robocop 2 wasn't THAT bad...